


What we are pt 18

by AXEe



Series: What we are [18]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Major Nerd/Majorlly Judging You will not be appearing, Not Canon Compliant, Yes Alex is playing Lena in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14085132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Our past mistakes have a terrible habit of coming back to bit us.   AU of "Ace Reporter"





	1. Blast From the Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snow_lily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snow_lily/gifts).



> OK, so, first of all, welcome to Part EIGHTEEN of What we are, an AU "Ace Reporter"! Secondly, for those of you wondering what's going on in my head right now, here's what happened. After "Ace Reporter" premired, I, feeling pissed that Alex only appeared in like two seconds worth of screentime, wrote a short little GD fic called "Thursday Morning Knife Practice" to kind of explain just _where_ Alex was during the episode. Anyway, snow_lily commented on it, saying that she felt like the creators were pushing Alex to the side in favor of Mon-El and Lena, adding that she could easily see Alex in Lena's role in "Ace Reporter", I agreed, and decided that once What we are's version of that episode rolled around that's what I would do. So, snow_lily, thanks for inspiration and here you go, enjoy! :=)
> 
> And now, on with the fic!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Happiness hit her like a train on a track  
Coming towards her stuck no turning back  
She hid around corners, she hid under beds  
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled  
With every bubble, she sank with her drink  
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
The horses are coming  
So you better run

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I could smell something burning as I knocked on Kara’s door.

“Alex, hey! Come on in” she beamed at me as she opened the door

“Sorry to show up unannounced,” I apologized as I came inside, finding that a bakery had apparently exploded all over Kara’s kitchen, with James standing in the middle of the mess, munching on an apple as he waved to me. Virtually every kind of baked good you could imagine was sitting on her counter or island, cakes, pies, muffins, rolls, cookies. Looking towards the TV I could see that the Food Network was on, a baking show on high volume

“Are you…grief baking?” I wondered

“What?” Kara snorted, the crinkle on her forehead wrinkling as she did “no! I just…thought I’d try something different,” she grabbed a cookie sheet “after all, its not that hard,” she held the sheet out to me “cookie?”

I glanced over her shoulder at James, who frantically shook his head and mouthed _‘no’_

“I’m good, thanks,” I said

Kara shrugged and set the cookie sheet down

“So, anyway,” I began “the real reason I came is over is, do you remember that guy I dated back in collage? Jack Spheer?”

“Jack Spheer? Wow, that’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile,” Kara commented as she started what looked like _another_ baked good “weren’t you and he like…the super couple of Stanford?” she asked as she whisked the eggs “the ones that everybody thought would change the world?”

“Yeah,” I sighed “that’s him”

“Jack Spheer?” James echoed “not ‘Jack Spheer’ of ‘Spheerical Technologies’?” he asked

“That’s him” I nodded

“Wow,” James looked impressed “didn’t know that you used to rub elbows with the bigwigs, Alex” he teased

I snorted

“Back then, Jack Spheer was just some nerdy kid with an idea, nobody, including himself, ever thought that he’d make it big,” I explained. I sighed “anyway, the reason I’m asking is…he invited me to attend that new tech conference they’re having this afternoon, and the invitation says that I can bring a guest, and I was _hoping_ that one of you…” I trailed off

“Well, I can’t go,” Kara sighed “unemployed, remember?”

I sighed

“Come on, Kara, don’t be like that,” I pleaded “you’ll find another job” I assured her

“Actually,” James spoke up “I was invited to the conference myself,” he began “and my invitation says I can bring a guest,” he shrugged “so, maybe we can all bring each other as guests?” he suggested

“That’s silly,” Kara declared as the oven timer dinged. She opened the oven and peered into what looked like a bunt pan “shoot” she sighed

“We’re going,” I announced “all three of us”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As it turned out, the ticket takers at Spheerical Technologies either didn’t care or were so confused and bored that they’d rather not deal with us. Either way, we all got in with me as James’ guest and Kara as my guest

“So, how’s Astra taking all of this?” Kara asked “you know, your ex-boyfriend inviting you to this thing?”

I snorted as we found our seats

“Are you kidding me? She practically threw me out the door, ordering me to go,” I explained “I still can’t believe how… _relaxed_ your people are when it comes to relationships”

Kara scowled

“Yeah, well, I still can’t believe that my _mom_ is dating Winn and Lucy” she grumbled

James glanced at me

“She and Alura still not talking, I take it?” he asked

“It’s gotten better,” I explained “now, if they pass each other in the hall, they at least nod and politely acknowledge each other”

“Well, it’s a start” James shrugged as he armed his camera as the lights dimmed. Jack Spheer walking up the podium. He looked pretty much the same as I remembered him, a little heavier maybe, but otherwise the same

“Thank you,” he smiled and nodded politely as the audience quieted down “today, we live in a world filled with sickness and disease,” he began “a world where children regularly die from cancer, or worse, treatable conditions only caught too late. A world where viruses and bacteria are getting more and more resilient to vaccinations and evolving into so-called ‘super bugs’, a world where the very drugs meant to save us can have unintended side-effects,” he paused for dramatic effect, and I had to roll my eyes, always a showman, Jack

“Now, what if I could tell you that, with one, easy, non-invasive procedure, we could end flu outbreaks? We could end cancer, even the common cold, and all of it without even needing a shot?” he smirked as the crowd chuckled “sounds like science-fiction doesn’t?” he asked rhetorically “well, it isn’t,” he flicked a switch and a camera on the podium projected a shot of his palm on the screen behind him.

A woman in a suit came over; in one hand she held a melon-sized metal sphere, in the other a knife. Holding up the knife so we could all see, she handed it to Jack, who took it and began to very carefully, methodically cut a long, deep line into his palm, the crowd gasping and recoiling in horror and shock

“What’s he doing?” Kara hissed

I shook my head

“It can’t be…,” I murmured as old memories resurfaced “did he actually find a solution?” I wondered as the woman opened the sphere, a shimmering swarm of tiny, insect-like objects swirling out and swarming around Jack’s palm, repairing the cut with a small glow “he actually did it” I breathed

“What?” Kara asked “is, is that what you guys were working on at Stanford?” she asked as Jack held up his healed palm

“Spheerical Technologies is proud to introduce…BioMax” he proclaimed as the crowd burst into applause.

I wasn’t cheering, I felt a little bit scared…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So that’s what you were working on at Stanford?” Kara asked as we lounged in the lobby of Spheerical Technologies, while James snapped a few pictures and spoke to a few press flaks

“That’s it,” I nodded “it was nanotechnology,” I explained “a swarm of tiny robots that could fix cells. The idea was that, if we could get them small enough, we could inject them into a person and they’d just…float around in your bloodstream, and if they came across a virus or a cancer cell, destroy it”

“Like the nanocytes we had on Krypton” Kara nodded

“Alex?”

I turned

“Jack, hi” I chuckled

“Long time no see, Lex,” he smirked as we shook hands. He paused, turning my hand over to examine the ring on my finger “ah,” he said softly, a bit of disappoint flickering in his eyes “so,” he pulled back, straightening up “whose the lucky fellow?”

“She,” I corrected “and she’s…,” I trailed off as I tried to think of words to describe Astra that didn’t involve ‘alien’ “incredible” I finally settled on

Jack smiled, seeming genuinely pleased for me

“Well, she’d better be hadn’t she?” he mused “to win your heart?”

“That’s one way to describe her” Kara muttered

“Oh!” I felt my face heat up as I suddenly remembered that she was there “sorry! Uh, Jack, this is my sister, Kara” I pulled her forward

“Oh, so _you’re_ Kara Danvers?” Jack laughed as he shook her hand “ah, we finally meet. You know, the week before we broke up, Alex was planning on introducing me to her family?”

Kara blinked, looking between him and me

“Really?” she asked “huh, she never mentioned it” she remarked, glaring at me out of the corner of her eye

“Jack…,” I sighed “don’t”

He smiled and shook his head

“Sorry, didn’t mean to open up old wounds,” he apologized “although,” he held up his hand, the one he used for the demonstration “at least now I can fix them” he joked, wiggling his fingers. I was about to ask him about his ‘BioMax’, how he got it working, when the same woman the demo slid up to him

“Sir? The shareholders would like to speak to you” she said quietly

Jack nodded

“Sorry,” he apologized “the perils of running a business,” he shrugged “Alex? Would love to catch up sometime”

“Sure” I nodded

“All right,” he grinned “how about dinner tomorrow night?”

I blinked

“Jack…” I began

“Now before you say anything,” he interrupted “it’ll be completely platonic, I swear,” he vowed “you can even bring your fiancée if you’d like” he offered

I snorted as I imagined Astra at a fancy restaurant; the cook would probably be sent into early retirement with her appetite

“All right,” I chuckled “dinner it is”

He grinned

“Great!” he gave me a thumbs up as he turned and left, nearly walking into a potted plant as he did

“Wow” Kara drawled

“What?” I asked

“Nothing!” she shook her head “it’s nothing, just…imagining how that conversation with Astra is going to go”

“Excuse me!”

We both jumped as a middle-aged man in glasses suddenly collided with us, stumbling as he went. He hurriedly stammered out an apology as he staggered off

“Nice,” Kara scoffed as he readjusted her jacket “this jacket’s…new” she pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket

“What’s that?” I asked

“I don’t know” she unfolded it and showed it to me. It was a note, handwritten in a frantic, nervous scrawl

____

_Must speak with you. Tonight 8 pm. Foundry District. Come alone_

It read. Beneath that was the web address for Kara’s short-lived blog

“I don’t like this,” I muttered “it could be Cadmus”

Kara shook her head as she folded the paper up and put it back in her pocket

“No, I don’t think so,” she decided “besides,” she added “you’ve got your own problems right now” she grinned…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

Alex kept hounding me about this meeting tonight, but I warned her off, I told her that I was big girl and that I could take care of myself. So, at eight sharp I walked into the Foundry District and found a single car waiting for me, the same guy who’d left the note in my jacket waiting inside.

He unlocked the doors as I came over and let me get in without a word

“All right,” I sighed “I’m here. Now what’s this about?”

“Are you sure no one followed you?” he asked, frantically looking out the back window

“I’m sure” I assured him as I pulled my notebook out. He took a nervous breath

“My name is Joe Watkins,” he began “I started work at Spheerical Technologies about four years ago,” he began “I want to…I _need_ to tell someone this, I need to warn them”

“Wait, warn who? About what?” I asked

“Everybody!” he hissed “BioMax, it…the FDA trials, the human tests…,” he shook his head “they weren’t any, the FDA hasn’t cleared it for public sale yet”

“Then why tell me?” I asked

“I saw what you did when you warned the people about Cadmus and the missing aliens,” he explained “you were trying to do the right thing,” he took a breath “so…so now its my turn,” he looked scared, nervous, like he was about to start screaming any second “OK,” he turned to me “the BioMax technology is still in its infancy…” began as I heard this sudden rattling, buzzing sound, like bees, or wasps

“What’s that noise?” I wondered

“Noise?” Joe asked “oh god!” he moaned “oh god, oh god! They know!”

“What?” I asked, trying to keep him calm “who knows?” I asked

Just then, the car suddenly exploded. Pieces of burning metal flew for miles all around, I was blown clear, landing in an awkward tumble on the gravel as I coughed for breath. Looking back up at the car, I couldn’t anything left of poor Joe Watkins

Just ash and burning metal…


	2. "Should I be worried?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! And to those of you who saw the multiple postings no idea what happened there, but rest assured that THIS ONE is the REAL Part Eighteen. Now, then, please enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father  
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers  
Leave all your loving, your loving behind  
You can’t carry it with you if you want to survive

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Should I be worried?” I wondered as Alex and lounged on the couch watching a repeat of _Call the Midwife_

“About what?” Alex asked

“You accepted an invitation to dinner tomorrow night with your ex-boyfriend,” I pointed out “so, I’ll ask again, should I be worried?”

“Absolutely not,” Alex exclaimed. She sighed and slumped against me “Jack and I…,” she trialed off “when we were dating I was very young, and _very_ stupid,” she began “and Jack was…Jack was charming, and handsome, and all those things you’d want in a man, except maybe ambitious. Which was part of the problem,” she sighed “because when we were working on the BioMax system I was seeing Nobel Prizes, even dollar signs. Jack? Jack just saw something to tinker with, you know? Something he could take apart, see how it worked, and put it back together again. Every time we’d thought we’d hit a breakthrough, Jack would just erase it all and start from scratch and tell me that he could ‘improve’ it, he could make it ‘better’.”

“Is that why the relationship ended?” I wondered. She shook her head, snorting out a laugh

“We never _had_ a ‘relationship’,” she chuckled “when we were in the lab, oh yeah, talk about intellectual stimulation, but…if we tried for an actual date? Something even half-way romantic?” she shook her head “nine times out of ten we’d either end talking shop or fucking”

“Was he any good?” I asked

She choked, looking up at me, shocked and amused

“Yeah,” she snorted “yeah, he was good. A little too good, actually,” she admitted “looking back on it, I think it was—no, that’s wrong—I _know_ that it was a…purely sexual attraction” she sighed

“I see,” I nodded as I studied the information she’d revealed “well, Jack Spheer seems to have developed ambition now, hasn’t he?” I remarked

“Tell me about it,” she chuckled “I never, in a million years, would have imagined that he could have founded his own company. _Never,_ ” she frowned “and the BioMax,” she mused quietly “how did he get working?”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, I opened the door to find Kara on the other side, looking rather frantic

“Is Alex here?” she asked as she hurried past me and inside

“No, she’s already left for work,” I answered, confused “why?”

Kara frowned

“Why…aren’t you with her?” she asked, confused

“I’m still suspended,” I explained “J’onn wants me to take some time off after last month’s encounter with Cadmus” I explained, leaving out the unspoken real reason, Non’s death. Or should I say, second death, and for once I agreed with J’onn, I did need some time to myself, just as Kara needed time to spend being ‘Kara Danvers’, I too needed some time to spend just being ‘Astra In-ze’ and not ‘General Astra’ or ‘Agent In-ze of the DEO’, time to decompress, and grieve. And, on the upside, the time away from the DEO gave me more time to spend with Alex, and Kara, and Alura.

“Oh” Kara nodded slowly

“So,” I began as I went back into the kitchen and scrutinized the cookbook “what brings you by?”

“Oh!” Kara brightened “right. Can you and the DEO get me a Freedom of Information Act request?”

I paused, blinking

“Why?” I asked “you can do it yourself,” I pointed out “anyone can”

“Yes,” she nodded “but it would work better if law enforcement did it”

I frowned, studying

“What is it?” I asked “why are you upset?”

She groaned and flopped down on the couch

“OK, look,” she began “I didn’t want to say anything around Alex, but…last night a whistleblower from Spheerical Technologies tried to talk to me. Apparently someone forged the results of the human trails for Jack Spheer’s BioMax, making it look like they passed”

“Kara, that’s a very serious allegation,” I began “if that’s true, forget Alex, hundreds, if not thousands of people could be in danger”

“I know!” she nodded “that’s why I was hoping you could pull some strings and…use those DEO connections you have”

“Kara, you seem to be confusing me with James Bond,” I chuckled “I have very little connections here on Earth. Now, what aren’t you telling me?”

She sighed and took a shuddering breath

“The whistleblower…died right in front of me” she breathed

“Oh, Kara,” I pulled her into a hug “I’ll…see what I can do,” I sighed “in the meantime, ask James to help you out. You may no longer be a reporter at the moment, but he is”

She nodded, looking bright again…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Alex grinned as I knocked on her lab door

“I need a favor” I explained

“Uh-oh, that’s not good”

“Not _that_ kind of favor,” I sighed “I promise you, this one won’t get you arrested”

“That’d be nice,” she nodded “so? What’s the favor?”

I sighed, muttering a curse in Kryptonese

“A whistleblower from Spheerical Technologies was killed last night as he was trying to talk to Kara,” I began “apparently, according to the deceased, the human trails for BioMax were falsified, none took place. Now, I’m not saying that Jack Spheer is involved…”

“…but it could be someone higher up in the corporate ladder,” she interrupted. She frowned “no, it’s probably not Jack,” she declared “he’s not that clever. He’s a genius, sure, but clever? Deceptive? Never,” she frowned “so, what’s going on?”

“Kara wants me to pull a Freedom of Information Act request,” I explained “but, I thought you deserved to know,” I shook my head “like you said, Jack probably isn’t even involved or aware of the whistleblower’s death, but still…”

She nodded as she leaned in and gave me a gentle kissed on the cheek

“I’ll keep my eyes open” she vowed…


	3. Freaky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short triple update! Enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
‘Cause here they come

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“I don’t know about this” I ran a hand through my hair as I paced in front of the couch, my dress still held in one hand, my heels in the other

“All right then, don’t go” Astra shrugged as she idly turned the page of her book

“But it would be rude to cancel on short notice,” I began “plus, he said that it would be platonic”

“Alex,” Astra sighed as she looked up from her “either go, or don’t go, but please, whatever you do, do it _silently_ , you’re beginning to wear on my patience” she growled

I took a breath and made my decision…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The restaurant was nice, fancy, and very expensive, but yet quiet and low-key.

My dress felt a little too tight as I was led to Jack’s table, which was off in a back corner. Jack himself stood up as I approached, dressed in a nice, neat black slacks and blazer with a black dress shirt

“Alex,” he smiled as he held my chair out for me “you look lovely”

“Thanks,” I grinned “you look good”

He blushed a bit as he sat down opposite from me

“Ah, I got a bit fat,” he dismissed as he opened his menu “so, the lobster’s very good here…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

I took a breath as I landed on the rooftop opposite the building that James just walked into. Keeping an eye on him, I tracked him up to the third story with my x-ray vision and superhearing as he knocked on Apartment 2B, our plan was basically I keep an eye on him while he talked to someone else who claimed he’d been in the human trails for BioMax

“Yeah?” a man’s voice asked from the other side of the door

“Derrick Simmons?” James asked

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m James Olsen, I’m with CatCo Worldwide Media,” James introduced himself “you said you wanted to speak to a reporter about the death of Joe Watkins?”

The door opened and a man leaned out

“Come on in,” he invited, letting James in. Wincing at how my eyes were starting to hurt from keeping up the x-ray vision, I kept at it as Derrick Simmons and James sat down “so, yeah,” Derrick began “I signed up for some human trials at Spheerical Tech,” he began “they offered me twenty grand up front, so I figured, what the hey, what’ll it hurt?”

“So, what happened during these tests?” James “I mean what exactly did they do?”

“Nothing, man,” Derrick snorted “I signed up, and three weeks later got a check in the mail, twenty grand, down to the cent,” he shook his head “no phone call, no pills, no needle in the arm. Nothing man,” he shook his head “I don’t know about you, but that’s just freaky”

“It is” James nodded as I suddenly heard a familiar buzzing, rattling sound. Dialing back my vision, I x-rayed the building itself, not finding anything at first, then I saw a…swarm, I guess you could call it shooting up the ventilation shafts, heading right for Apartment 2B.

Shooting forward, I broke through the window and landed in front of James and Derrick just as the swarm suddenly burst out the shaft. Taking a breath, I blasted it with freeze breath, freezing the whole swarm in place

“Are you OK?” I asked as I turned to James

“Yeah,” he nodded “come on, let’s go!” he opened the door and usher Derrick Simmons out first just as I heard the ice shatter behind us. The swarm suddenly buzzed past us as I threw my cape over James, the tiny bugs, machines, whatisits, hitting the cape for a few seconds before suddenly stopping

“ _OH GOD!! GET ‘EM OFF ME! GET ‘EM OFF THEM ME!!!_ ”

We both turned, staring as Derrick Simmons ran screaming down the hall, his entire body was just _covered_ in the swarm, it was like he _was_ the swarm. Screaming, he fell to the floor as the swarm flew away, leaving nothing behind, no blood, no bones, no scraps of clothing, just…nothing.

No trace at all of Derrick Simmons…


	4. Starling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quadruple update! Enjoy! :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And I never wanted anything from you  
Except everything that you had, and what was left that too, oh  
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back  
Shot by someone who should know better than that

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
‘Cause here they come

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Jack Spheer’s BioMax just ate my source!”

I started as Kara suddenly charged into the apartment with that exclamation

“I beg your pardon?” I asked. She ran a hand through her hair, sighing in frustration

“Someone else connected the human trials of BioMax at Spheerical Tech was just killed,” she explained “ _by_ BioMax,” she looked around “where’s Alex?”

“You just missed her,” I explained as I got up off the couch and sped into a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt “she just left for her dinner with Jack Spheer”

“Well what are we waiting for?!”

“Kara! Stop pulling my arm!” I exclaimed as she manhandled me out the door, leaving barely time to grab my jacket from the peg on the wall…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

Dinner had been going well, not great, but well. Jack and I had shared a few laughs over old, stupid things we’d done as kids, and had enjoyed our (very expensive) dinners. Now, I was grilling him on how he got BioMax working

“So, how did you get them to swarm?” I asked “I remember that we tried—”

“Alex! Hey!”

I looked up at Kara and Astra walked in, both cheerfully waving at us

“Hi,” I said, confused as they both grabbed two empty chairs and made themselves at home on either side of me “uh, what are you guys doing here?” I asked

“Well, I thought I was invited?” Astra asked

“And I was hoping to get a free meal” Kara added

“Uh, Alex?” Jack asked “aren’t you going to introduce us?” he asked, nodding towards Astra

“Oh! Sorry,” she grinned and happily shook his hand “Ashley Inzeli” she introduced herself

“Ahem, wow, strong grip you got there,” Jack remarked as he pulled his hand away from hers, wincing slightly “so, you’re the fiancée, I take it?” he asked

“That’s me,” Astra beamed as she promptly guzzled down my entire glass of wine (granted, I hadn’t touched it, or been planning to, but still!). Sighing happily, Astra hiccupped slightly “so,” she began “you’re Jack Spheer, huh?” she asked as she started eating off my plate _with her fingers_ no less. I don’t know whether she was being deliberately annoying or if it was her jealousy talking, but it was getting on my nerves.

She hiccupped and looked between myself and Jack

“Oh, don’t mind me,” she said “go on, keep talking. Pretend we’re not here” she encouraged. Trying to salvage what little of my dignity I had left, I turned back to Jack

“So, uh, you were saying about how you managed to get the BioMax nanobots to swarm?” I asked

Jack chuckled, looking a little embarrassed

“Uh, well, it was just after we broke up,” he began “actually, it was just after you left…and….I was staring out the window, and this flock of starlings flew by. Just absolutely _massive_ flock, and I suddenly had an idea—”

“Oh my god,” I interrupted “they migrate,” I realized “they don’t follow a central leader, the whole swarm just migrates”

Jack smiled and nodded softly

“They migrate” he confirmed

My revelation was promptly killed by the sound of Astra burping loudly

“Nice story,” she remarked, absently licking her fingers clean. She smirked “you know, I think we overstayed our welcome” she announced as she stood up

“Yeah, I think so,” Kara said as she stood up, Jack and I following “well, nice to see you again, Jack” she said, shaking his hand

“Likewise, Kara,” he replied as he turned to Astra “and it was, ahem, nice to meet you, Ashley” he coughed uncomfortably

“Ah,” Astra waved a hand as she held out her arms, clearly planning on hugging him “come on,” she invited. Shrugging, Jack hugged her, grunting as Astra lifted him off his feet a bit “good luck with your nano-starling, bug thing” she said as she waved and followed Kara out

“So,” Jack began “ _that_ was…your…fiancée?” he asked skeptically, like he couldn’t believe it

“Apparently” I groaned.

I was going to _kill_ Astra when I got home…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“OK, when I said ‘act human’, I didn’t mean ‘act like a total butthead’,” I began as Astra followed me out of the restaurant “and since when do _you_ hug strangers?”

“Ahem,” she smirked and held up a security pass for Spheerical Technologies

 _Jack Spheer’s_ security pass to be exact

“When people feel uncomfortable, they panic,” she explained “means they’re less likely to notice things going missing”

I grinned

“I really love you right now, Aunt Astra”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spheerical Technologies was closed for the day, not that that stopped Astra and I.

Thanks to a combination of being able to fly and vent on the roof, we got into the upper floor, just outside Jack Spheer’s office easily

“OK” I took the card from Astra and waved it over the lock. It beeped once, the light turned green, and the door slid open

“That was _frighteningly_ easy” Astra hissed as we quickly found Jack’s computer. Turning it on, I found a message asking for a password

“Any guesses on his password?” I asked. Astra frowned and then leaned over my shoulder and typed something in, the computer chirped and we were in “how’d you do that?” I asked

“The password was ‘starling’.”

“Ew, sappy,” I groaned as I turned to the keys “OK…BioMax…human trials.” I muttered as I found two file folders, both marked ‘BioMax human trial’. Clicking one reveled that it was empty “so, there were no human trials” I realized

“What about that one?” Astra pointed at the other file. Clicking on it, I found a single file

“It’s a video” I said as I clicked on it and it started playing, an image of Jack sitting behind the desk that I was sitting at appearing on the screen

“ _OK,_ ” he took a breath as he held up a syringe-like thing to his arm “ _BioMax human trials, test forty-two_ ” he quickly injected himself in the arm, his skin instantly _rippled_ as the BioMax swarm suddenly emerged through his skin covering his entire body, even his clothes before disappearing back into his skin.

Panting for breath, Jack slumped back in the chair looking dazed, unfocused

“He used himself as a test subject,” Astra whispered “but what did it do to him?” she leaned in over my shoulder “play it again, Sam,” I stared at her “what?” she asked “you’ve never seen _Casablanca_?”

“No, I’ve seen it,” I explained as I played the video again “I just never expect to hear you quote it” I muttered as she studied the video

“There! Stop!” she pointed as I paused the video “his eyes!” she hissed “just like someone under the effects of Myriad”

“What?” I asked “are you saying that he’s…being controlled?”

“No, not necessarily, but whatever he did most defiantly affected his brain chemistry,” she explained. She looked around the desk “flash drive, we’ll download the video” she muttered and we started hunting for a flash drive…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“So, uh, well, this is me” I explained as we stopped outside my door, Jack had insisted on ‘doing the gentlemanly thing’ and walking me to my door

“Well,” he began “the interruption aside, I think dinner was a success”

“Aside from the interruption,” I agreed, feeling my face heat up as he suddenly, slowly, leaned in

I put a hand on his chest, stopping him

“Jack…I’m engaged,” I told him “and as much as I want to strangle my fiancée right now, I’m not going to do this”

He blinked, blushing

“Sorry,” he apologized “guess, I just…got caught up in the moment,” he explained “please, don’t think badly of me,” he requested “I wouldn’t—” he suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his eyes glazing over slightly as he suddenly just…stopped

“Jack?” I asked. He blinked and suddenly came back in focus

“Sorry,” he apologized “just remembered that I have an early meeting tomorrow morning, so,” he gestured vaguely to my apartment door “I’ll leave you to it” he leaned in again, but this to kiss me on the cheek, I snorted as his beard tickled my skin

“Last time you kissed me you didn’t have a beard” I pointed out

He smirked as he turned and silently walked away. Sighing, I unlocked the door and slipped inside, finding the room empty. Making my way to the bedroom I found it empty too

Good, I thought, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Astra’s petty jealousy right now…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“What’s that sound?” Astra asked suddenly.

I looked up, hearing a familiar buzzing, rattling sound

“Oh no, we have to go,” I explained as I looked down at the computer, which was still copying the video to the flash drive “come on, come on, got it!” I yanked the drive out “come on!” I hissed as we charged for the door, shooting down the hall at superspeed…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally was planning on skipping this episode entirely, but the temptation to see a General Danvers take on the scene with Kara and Mon-El in the restaurant and at Spheerical Tech was just too tempting :=)


	5. Playing God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FIVE! Enjoy! :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
‘Cause here they come

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

Astra didn’t come home until late, and by then I was too tired to fight, so when I felt the bed dip as she crawled inside I just ignored it and tired to sleep.

I slept badly that night, tossing and turning all night, I don’t know whether it was nightmares or maybe that lobster had been off, but I woke up feeling only slightly less than death washed over.

Shuffling into the kitchen, I found Astra by the stove flipping pancakes onto a plate by just flipping the entire pan, out flew the pancake to land on the plate. Seeing that amount of careless skill just made me mad again

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded

She turned off the stove and held out the plate to me

“Eat something” she said as she sat down with her own plate

“No,” I put the plate down “first you and I are going to have a talk about you and your behavior last night. What the hell were you thinking?!”

“Alex—” she tried, but I didn’t give her the opportunity to speak

“No! Uh-uh, no, you are not speaking right now! I’m talking!” I started to pace “you, you…forget embarrassed me in front of Jack, you made a total ass of yourself _and_ Kara! And I don’t care what you’re feelings are about me and Jack, that doesn’t give you the right to drag poor Kara into your petty jealous antics!”

She suddenly stood up

“Would you _shut up_ and _listen to me?!_ ” she suddenly roared. She took a harsh breath, clenching one fist so tightly I was afraid she might actually draw blood “I didn’t want to show you this,” she began, pulling out her phone “in fact, I stayed up all night debating whether I should show it to you. But…you deserve to know,”

She held out the phone, letting me watch as a video played. I watched as Jack injected himself with the BioMax swarm, watched as the nanobots fused with his skin. Slowly, I looked up at Astra

“Two people connected to the BioMax project have both _died_ ,” she began “one was actually _eaten_ by the swarm. There were no human trails of BioMax. Only that,” she explained. She sighed “Alex…Jack…he’s not the man you knew, not anymore”

I swallowed; feeling like the ground was falling out from under me as I slowly sat down

“Who…ahem…who else knows about this?” I asked, barely recognizing my own voice

“Just Kara,” Astra explained, crouching down next to me “Alex…I…”

“Don’t,” I held up a hand “just…don’t. Not now,” I took a breath “I should have known something was wrong!” I hissed as I got up and started to pace, leaving Astra crouching by my empty seat “if the two of us couldn’t make it work, why did I think that Jack could have all by himself?” I hissed

“Shall I keep kneeling?” Astra asked suddenly

I stopped, staring at her

“What?” I asked

She smirked

“How should I worship thee, o mighty all-knowing Alex?” she asked rhetorically.

I groaned as I realized what she was saying “you’re not god, Alex,” she reminded me as I collapsed down on the couch “you couldn’t have known. In fact, I suspect, you _wanted_ to Jack have succeeded,” she explained “you wanted him to have the company, the fame, the fortune. To have everything that you both never had together. There’s no shame in wanting those we loved to have the best this world has to offer”

“Except the best that this world has to offer was built on the bodies of two people” I grumbled

“You don’t know that,” she reminded me as she sat down next to me “now…what do you want to do?” she asked

I shook my head

“I don’t know…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“OK!” I dropped the pile of papers on James’ desk. He blinked and stared at me

“Uh, hi” he said

“Hi” I replied

“Uh…Kara,” he began “why are you here?” he asked slowly “you were fired, remember?”

“Look,” I sighed “Joe Watkins _died_ trying to talk me,” I began “he came to me because he felt that I did the right thing. But I can’t do it alone, I need your help. Now, if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine, I’ll accept that”

“Kara,” he reached out and took my hands “of course I want to help you,” he explained “it’s just that I’d like to keep my job while I’m at it”

“Hmm, wouldn’t we all?”

We both turned to see Ms. Grant standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip

“James, do I need to call security?” she asked

“No” James answered

“Then what, pray tell, is she doing here?” she asked, nodding at me

“Look, Ms. Grant, we—I—have reason to believe that Spheerical Technologies faked the human test trails for the BioMax technology” I began

“Proof?” she asked, holding out her hand. I quickly handed her the papers. She skimmed through them, finally nodding “all right,” she said, handing them back to me “James, keep at it,” she ordered “and, Ker-iah?”

“Yes...?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know what she was going to say next

“I’ll have someone move a desk in here,” she explained “unless, of course, you’d rather go back to your lonely, windowless office, that is?”

“Uh, no,” I shook my head “no, this, this is fine”

She nodded as she turned to leave

“Good. Carry on”


	6. Lab Rats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter SIX! Enjoy! :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
‘Cause here they come

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I didn’t do much the rest of the night, mostly just sat around the apartment not really doing anything. Astra had been quiet all this time, not unusual, but she stuck close to me, always just within arms reach if I needed her

“Aunt Astra!”

My door suddenly burst open, Kara and James hurrying inside...well, Kara hurried, James just walked in

“Listen, we found—oh,” Kara stopped and looked between me and Astra “you know” she realized

I nodded

“Yeah,” I took a breath “what did you find?”

Kara blinked

“Oh! Right,” she set down a file folder on the coffee table “I don’t think Jack Spheer is behind it, at least not completely,” she began as she opened the file folder and spread out the papers inside “both Joe Watkins and Derrick Simmons received large amounts of money wired directly to their accounts just after BioMax was unveiled, and the money came from Beth Breen”

“Who’s…Beth Breen?” Astra asked

“Chief Financial Officer of Spheerical Tech,” I sighed as I held up a photo of the woman in question “BioMax fails and she stands to loose a pretty penny,” I frowned as something suddenly occurred to me “oh my god! The rats!” I hissed

“Where?” Kara asked, looking around frantically as Astra tensed and quickly sat on the couch, drawing her legs up

“No, no, not ‘rats’, ‘lab rats’,” I explained “when Jack and I were testing BioMax we used lab rats,” I began “but there was a problem, the nanobots had a nasty habit of…fusing with the rat’s physiology, they disrupted the brain chemistry of the rats, it made them very susceptible to suggestion. We could make them do anything we wanted them to do”

“Define ‘anything’?” Astra asked

“We once got a rat to actually eat its own tail off” I explained

“Ew, Alex! I didn’t need to hear that!” Kara exclaimed

“What kind of effect would the BioMax have on a person’s brain?” James asked

I sighed

“Probably the same as Myriad did on you and Winn” I explained, recalling how Faora had made both him and Winn jump off a building

“So…Jack might not actually be the one behind all of this,” Kara reasoned “Beth Breen might be”

“Might be” I nodded

Astra sighed as I stood up

“You’re going to do something stupid and foolhardy again, aren’t you?” she asked

I smirked

“Don’t I always?”

“Usually,” she sighed “I wouldn’t mind were it not for the years I keep losing off of my life expectancy every time you do something stupid”

I shrugged

“Too bad,” I muttered as I grabbed my coat “don’t follow me,” I ordered her and Kara “this is something I need to do by myself…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spheerical Tech was largely closed down for the night, but apparently my name was on the list, because the security guard simply checked his clipboard and then waved me through, directing me to the warehouse where the main laboratories were

“Alex?” Jack looked up from a microscope as I came in “this is a pleasant surprise”

“Don’t,” I told him “how many people died because of the BioMax, Jack? The truth this time”

He shook his head, looking genuinely confused and shocked

“Died? Alex, what are you talking about? BioMax passed the FDA trails with flying colors, no one died. In two years we’ll have them in every hospital and doctor’s office across the country”

“You really believe that don’t you?” I sighed “you really think that it’s true”

“Of course it’s true,” he scoffed “why wouldn’t it be?” he asked “now, what are you talking about, died? Who died? When?”

I shook my head

“You don’t even remember, do you?” I sighed “damn it, Jack! You saw what happened to those rats! How could you be so _stupid_ as to think of using BioMax on _yourself_?!” I demanded

“What are you talking about?” he exclaimed “Alex, I swear to you I never, ever—” he stopped suddenly, his face going blank, eyes glazing over just like they had back at my apartment the night before

“Jack?” I asked, I waved a hand in front of his face, nothing no reaction

“He can’t hear you, Ms. Danvers,”

I turned at the voice, watching as a woman, the same woman from the BioMax demo walked over

“He can’t hear anyone right now” she continued…


	7. Swarm Mentality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN! Enjoy! :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Run fast for your mother, run faster for your father  
Run fast for your children, your sisters and brothers  
Leave all your loving, your loving behind  
You can’t carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over  
The dog are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
‘Cause here they come

\--Florence + the Machine: “Dog Days Are Over”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I took a breath as Beth Breen approached me

“So,” I began “it is you. You’re the one behind it”

She nodded as she tapped the Bluetooth-like device over her left ear

“Imagine it,” she began “the boy genius,” she leaned against Jack like he was a prop, a statue “everybody falling at his feet. But what no one realizes is that he can’t run his own company to save his own life. Not financially responsible. He would have cost us millions, billions even, all so that he could keep tinkering with the BioMax,” she explained “I worked for _years_ trying to keep this company up, losing sleep, my marriage, all to keep us from going under”

“Oh yeah,” I sneered “real heartbreaking”

She shrugged

“In two years, BioMax will be in every hospital, doctor’s office, and clinic in the country. In three years, every hospital in the world,” she grinned “we’ll make millions”

“And what about the dozens of people who’ll end up like him?” I nodded to Jack

“Not my concern,” she dismissed “you know, its funny, he did everything I told him to do. But when you showed up at the conference, he invited you out to dinner all on his own,” she looked up at Jack “hmm, I’ll have to fix that” she sighed

“So what,” I asked “planning on killing me?”

“Why would I do that?” she wondered, sounding genuinely confused

“Why else would you tell me all of this if you weren’t?”

She smirked

“Again, not financially responsible,” she explained “imagine my surprise, when I found out that you work for the government,” she grinned “think of all those defense contracts”

“You’re insane” I scoffed

“I’ve been called worse” she dismissed as Jack jerked back into motion again, his face still blank as the swarm of BioMax slithered off him, charging for me,

There was a sudden smash of breaking glass and Kara suddenly shot into the room, scooping me up and carrying me across the room in a instant

“You OK?!” she asked as she set me down

“Yeah, yeah,” I panted out as the swarm surged for us “you take of them, I’ll handle Jack” I instructed

“Got it!” she nodded as we broke apart, I sprinted for the computers, while she hit the swarm with a blast of freeze breath. The swarm suddenly broke into two swarms and hit her from both the front and behind, swiftly carrying her up into the air and pinning her to a support strut, slithering across her body, covering her almost completely as they slithered up her neck towards her face

“Alex!”

I skidded to a stop, seeing Jack now on his knees on the floor, groaning in clear pain as he fought back against Breen’s control even as the swarm rippled and swam under his skin. I turned to the controls, only for my legs to be swept out from under me.

Rolling up, I scowled as Breen stood over me

“Did I mention I’m a third degree black belt?” she chuckled

I grinned 

“Did I mention my fiancée's an alien?”

There was a whoosh, and Breen suddenly screamed as she was thrown a good ten feet away as Astra collided with her. Dressed in her full Military Guild uniform, she offered me a hand and pulled me up

“Do _not_ say ‘I told you so’!” I snarled

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she chuckled. She glanced back at Jack “stay with him, I’ll help Kara” she ordered, marching past him and quickly blasting the swarm surrounding Kara with heat vision. Which only made part of it break away from Kara to pin her to the floor, slithering across her chest to cover almost completely, leaving only her face and part of her head exposed.

“Alex!”

I turned back to Jack as he groaned in pain, frantically nodding towards the computers

“Th, the system, kill it!” he panted out “please!”

I looked back at the computers

“I think I can overload the system!” I called out as I rushed to the keyboard and began typing

“Hurry!!” Kara and Astra both called back the swarms seemed to be _tightening_ around them each, no doubt intending on squeezing the life out of them

“You’ll kill him,” Breen’s voice panted out behind “the BioMax is already fused with his body, you kill them, you kill him”

I spun on my heel, ramming my elbow into her face, sending her to the floor in a sprawl

“Shut up!” I snarled as I saw that the control device had fallen off her, I quickly stepped on it, crushed it

“ _System ready_ ” the computer announced. I glanced at Jack, suddenly second-guessing myself, if I did this, I’d kill him.

He seemed to know what I thinking, because he nodded

“Do it,” he panted out “please!”

“I’m sorry, Jack” I whispered as I hit the ‘ENTER’ key

“ _System overload_ ” the computer announced.

I cringed as Jack suddenly jerked, _screaming_ in agony as the system overloaded, his body spasming before he flopped back onto the floor, limp

“No, no!” I rushed towards him, feeling tears well up in my eyes as I watched the life swiftly drain from his “Jack, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” I whispered as I felt Kara come up to me and wrap her arms around me

“ _System reinitializing_ ”

I looked up to see Astra at the controls

“What are you doing?” I demanded

She turned to face me, her face somber

“Letting you say goodbye” she answered softly

“ _Partial system restoration_ ” the computer announced as Jack jerked slightly

“Two minutes” Astra announced as the computer began quietly counting down in the background

“Hey, Lex,” Jack weakly grinned up at me “so…you’re sister’s Supergirl, huh?” he chuckled

“Yeah,” I nodded tearfully “yeah, she is”

“That’s figures,” he chuckled. He weakly looked over at Astra “hey, look after her, eh?” he chuckled

“I will,” Astra nodded “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to know you better,” she smiled bitter sweetly “I think I would’ve liked you” she breathed

Jack chuckled

“Likewise,” he weakly reached up, taking my hand “bye, Lex” he whispered

“Bye, Jack” I whispered back as the computer finished counting down…


	8. Call Me When You Need Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter EIGHT! Here we are folks, the end of Part Eighteen of What we are! Up next, Part Nineteen, AU of "Alex"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I know everybody lets you down  
In this brief hole of a town  
And I’ll do the same  
But know I’ll always be around  
This can remain the same

Call me when you need me  
Call me anything you want  
Darling believe me  
Nothing I haven’t done before

\--Florence + the Machine: “Remain Nameless”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

“Ker-iah,” Ms. Grant nodded at me as I hovered in her office door “thought you’d like to see the new issue” she explained as she handed the first edition. The cover showed a picture of Spheerical Technologies’ logo and the caption ‘FAILURE, HOW CORPERATE GREED KILLED THREE MEN’

“Thank you, for not dragging Jack’s name through the mud” I said

“Well, it wasn’t really ‘him’ doing it, now was it?” she scoffed. She nodded to the magazine “check out the byline” she told me. Opening it to the article, I frowned at the byline

By  
Kara Danvers and James Olsen

It read

“Thank you” I said, not sure what else to say

She nodded

“I’m beginning to think that you and James might make a new team,” she began “so, if you’d like, I can make that desk is his office a permanent addition”

“I’d like that” I said

Ms. Grant nodded as she reached out, taking the magazine back from me

“You can go now,” she said. I had just turned to leave, when she called me back “you do something like that again, and I won’t rehire you. Understood?”

I nodded

“Yes, Ms, Grant”

“Good”

I quickly slipped out of her office and knocked on James’ office door

“Hey,” he said as I came “your desk just arrived” he said

“Wow,” I muttered “it’s…pretty big” I noted. The desk was wedged into a corner by the door, so that it and James’ desk made a kind of L-shape, with the chair for the new desk against the wall it would be a pretty tight squeeze, but I could work with it

“So,” James began as I squeezed into my new desk “how’s Alex holding up?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted “she won’t return my calls,” I explained “but Astra’s with her, so I think she’ll be OK…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

The room was dark when I quietly came in, Alex was where she was 

“How’d J’onn take the news?” she wondered

“You’re suspended for violating protocol by not telling him about the BioMax threat,” I explained “so, I guess we’ll have plenty of time to annoy each other,” she joked, but it fell flat “oh, Kara asked me to give you these” I explained as I set a vase of flowers down on the coffee table

“They’re beautiful” Alex smiled weakly as she took in the colorful arrangement

“I added some of my own,” I explained as I joined her on the couch “I’d ask how you were feeling, but I think I already know” I sighed

“I remember when they came to the door and told us about my father’s death,” she began “and after they left, I found Mom tidying up our room, like nothing had ever happened, couldn’t deal with it, I guess,” she shrugged “I feel like that right now, cold, numb. But then I think about Beth Breen getting stabbed in the prison shower,” she took a harsh breath “and then…I feel a little bit warmer,” she turned to look up at me “what does that make me?” she wondered

“Human,” I answered instantly “that’s what makes your species so incredible,” I explained “for every vile act, every act of cruelty, of carelessness, there are a thousand more acts of kindness, of love, of compassion. You say that you enjoy the thought of Beth Breen dying, but you take no pleasure it in. That makes you human”

She snuggled up to me, not saying anything.

And I said nothing in return, there was nothing I could say, just offer my presence and allow her to grieve…

**END**


End file.
